Rock Werchter 2025

[Ohad]

2 minutes ago, gingerevans84 said:

It is, but without doing these huge shows, then you wont get experience in doing huge shows. Doing another arena run is pointless.

 

Can't see how selling out arenas is pointless. But selling tickets to your own audience, in oppose to appealing to a wide audience, is a different task isn't it?

 

5 minutes ago, Newjem said:

So we don’t have young actors who are the main stars of TV shows/movies? There aren’t any young footballers who are leaders of their teams? 

 

If you have the talent and enthusiasm you can be much better. There are young chefs who have already won Michelin stars, meanwhile there are many experienced who still cook bad food in some shithole…

 

100% right. I'm all into having many young, talented acts. But specifically the headliner spot is the one spot that should he reserved exactly for the more experienced acts. Or so it was. 

Other great festivals (Coachella for example) who went down this road felt it in ticket sales after a few years.

[ParanoidTourist]

29 minutes ago, Codhead said:

I really hope this means that Paul isn't playing the main festival. 

 

I really hope Paul IS playing the main festival. Although what they served as a Thursday headliner last year (Lenny) doesn´t inspire much hope. Having said that, Sir Paul was the Thursday headliner in 2016 and played 31 songs. 

[Newjem]

7 minutes ago, Ohad said:

 

Can't see how selling out arenas is pointless. But selling tickets to your own audience, in oppose to appealing to a wide audience, is a different task isn't it?

 

 

100% right. I'm all into having many young, talented acts. But specifically the headliner spot is the one spot that should he reserved exactly for the more experienced acts. Or so it was. 

Other great festivals (Coachella for example) who went down this road felt it in ticket sales after a few years.

Oasis headlined Glastonbury in 1995. Were they experienced enough back then? And there are so many other examples. Come on, this is not a new thing…

[gingerevans84]

20 minutes ago, Ohad said:

 

Can't see how selling out arenas is pointless. But selling tickets to your own audience, in oppose to appealing to a wide audience, is a different task isn't it?

 

 

100% right. I'm all into having many young, talented acts. But specifically the headliner spot is the one spot that should he reserved exactly for the more experienced acts. Or so it was. 

Other great festivals (Coachella for example) who went down this road felt it in ticket sales after a few years.

Im sure there are many, myself included, who wouldnt pay over £100 to see her by herself. But in a festival setting, im more than happy to stand by the trees on the right hand side with a couple of Jupilers and roar out Drivers Licence, Obsessed, Good 4 U and possibly more than I know.

 

Clearly you dont think she's got the crossover appeal or you dont think pop should be at Werchter.

Edited Monday at 11:07 AM by gingerevans84

[northernangel]

Fully on board for macca to be the first headliner Thursday. That's currently the difference between attending and not. 

[Ohad]

1 hour ago, gingerevans84 said:

Im sure there are many, myself included, who wouldnt pay over £100 to see her by herself. But in a festival setting, im more than happy to stand by the trees on the right hand side with a couple of Jupilers and roar out Drivers Licence, Obsessed, Good 4 U and possibly more than I know.

 

Clearly you dont think she's got the crossover appeal or you dont think pop should be at Werchter.

As stated before, I clearly don't think she's experienced enough to be a headliner. 2 years ago I was extremely happy with Stromae and OATW, and this year I would've been delighted with Billie, so I don't think your assumptions about me holds 🙂

[VCF]

32 minutes ago, Ohad said:

As stated before, I clearly don't think she's experienced enough to be a headliner. 2 years ago I was extremely happy with Stromae and OATW, and this year I would've been delighted with Billie, so I don't think your assumptions about me holds 🙂

Do you even know where you’re going with that "experience" argument?

 

Because I’m pretty sure you stated before you didn’t know what she looked/sounded like as a performer. So your only argument is that she’s 22…? 

 

To each their own obviously, but I find it baffling we’re even considering whether or not she’s Werchter headliner material. She’s been touring the biggest arenas and festivals for the past two years and will headline Glastonbury. 

 

But you’re telling us she’s not… ready or experienced enough or whatever because she’s 4 years and two records into her career?

[thetime]

1 hour ago, Newjem said:

Oasis headlined Glastonbury in 1995. Were they experienced enough back then? And there are so many other examples. Come on, this is not a new thing…

 

British and festivals were different animals back in the 90s, they were not really mainstream and that didn't hit until late 90s.

 

British festivals had the likes of Darkness headlining after 1 album, plus the likes of Travis and Skunk Anansee headlining. 

 

 

 

 

[northernangel]

11 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

British and festivals were different animals back in the 90s, they were not really mainstream and that didn't hit until late 90s.

 

British festivals had the likes of Darkness headlining after 1 album, plus the likes of Travis and Skunk Anansee headlining. 

 

 

 

 

They were at their peak bookings though. Remember a lot of  venues now weren't around then. The scene and everything is different. We didn't have online streams to drive etc 

[gingerevans84]

59 minutes ago, Ohad said:

As stated before, I clearly don't think she's experienced enough to be a headliner. 2 years ago I was extremely happy with Stromae and OATW, and this year I would've been delighted with Billie, so I don't think your assumptions about me holds 🙂

Billie headlining Glastonbury a couple of years must've been hard to swallow, and she was due to headline loads of festivals during the wonderful covid times. Maybe retrospect is a wonderful thing eh. Couple of years from now we'll all be saying what fantastic booking from Werchter for pushing Fender/Rodrigo to European headliners.

 

Anyway, hope theres something on for you in the Barn/Klub C.

[northernangel]

What I will say is I can see how people who are regularly would lol at O-Rod and Sam and be like what is going on. But a major difference of 37k tickets sold also looks bad. I could see how 46k with a view to headline with more sales. But 9 I can't. 

 

I think it also just tells me, forget the anniversaries and just go for what's good as they can't just pluck out of think air now.

 

Just because it's my kinda thing but not all day, I reckon Ultra Music Festival started with one of the strongest phases of the year. Obviously that's very aquired and to be honest not many I know like it and also rock.

[Newjem]

28 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

British and festivals were different animals back in the 90s, they were not really mainstream and that didn't hit until late 90s.

 

British festivals had the likes of Darkness headlining after 1 album, plus the likes of Travis and Skunk Anansee headlining.

It wasn’t just 90s though. Arctic Monkeys in 2007, Mumford & Sons in 2013, Stormzy in 2019… all headlining with only 2 albums or less.

Edited Monday at 01:33 PM by Newjem

[Ohad]

19 minutes ago, VCF said:

Do you even know where you’re going with that "experience" argument?

 

Because I’m pretty sure you stated before you didn’t know what she looked/sounded like as a performer. So your only argument is that she’s 22…? 

 

To each their own obviously, but I find it baffling we’re even considering whether or not she’s Werchter headliner material. She’s been touring the biggest arenas and festivals for the past two years and will headline Glastonbury. 

 

But you’re telling us she’s not… ready or experienced enough or whatever because she’s 4 years and two records into her career?

I dont know why people insist of adopting such attitude. Why are you socmad? Man did I insult you or something?

 

true, I didn't know many of her popular songs. But I don't need more than watching 30 minutes of her set online to confirm my impressions on her as a performer.

 

Yes, she's inexperienced. No, I don't think that being a good ticket seller at the peak of your extremely short career is an indication for performance abilities. I don't deny that she is headlining festivals, I'm saying that soon enough, festivals that chose to change strategy and book headliners like Olivia as HEADLINERS will see a decline in ticket sales. Just like happened in Coachella who started booking acts like Blackpink, and will happen soon in Glasto (Maybe? Dunno the brits may be more loyal)

 

[49Lawson]

The Olivia Rodrigo thing has put me in mind a bit about a chat a couple of us were having in the Primavera forum earlier this year/around the time the line up was announced. 

 

I think another thing that is important to note is that diversity, particular gender diversity, seems to be a massive pre-requisite for the modern festival audience and I think promoters are very in-aware of this. I don't think that's a bad thing at all by the way, but I do think festivals the size of Werchter, Glasto etc have had to adjust their booking strategies accordingly in order to get female artists (or female-fronted bands) to the level of headliner to address the issue quite quickly. There are hardly any out-and-out ticket sellers from rock/alt that fit that criteria so they've had to cast the net wider with acts like Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa etc to address a previously existing imbalance and ensure they aren't left behind.

[Ohad]

8 minutes ago, gingerevans84 said:

Billie headlining Glastonbury a couple of years must've been hard to swallow, and she was due to headline loads of festivals during the wonderful covid times. Maybe retrospect is a wonderful thing eh. Couple of years from now we'll all be saying what fantastic booking from Werchter for pushing Fender/Rodrigo to European headliners.

 

Anyway, hope theres something on for you in the Barn/Klub C.

 

In a way, yeah. I saw Billie in 2019 and she was super awesome. Played 4th down the bill of the LL mainstage. Did I think it was a headlining worthy set? 

When she dropped her second album and started headlining, I was a bit disappointed. Felt too early in her career, definetly immature. With that being said, Billie was an anomaly - she's almost unprecedentedly acclaimed (youngest to win 4 of  the big 4 in the grammys at the same year, she has the same amount of Oscars as Tarantino), so maybe it was inevitable. 

[northernangel]

13 minutes ago, Newjem said:

It wasn’t just 90s though. Arctic Monkeys in 2007, Mumford & Sons in 2013, Stormzy in 2019… all headlining with only 2 albums or less.

I will Arctic Monkeys probably had the biggest leep I'd seen from a band. The Killers as well in my mind. Two bands to do it at the time off of absolutely banger albums. 

[Newjem]

5 minutes ago, Ohad said:

I dont know why people insist of adopting such attitude. Why are you socmad? Man did I insult you or something?

 

true, I didn't know many of her popular songs. But I don't need more than watching 30 minutes of her set online to confirm my impressions on her as a performer.

 

Yes, she's inexperienced. No, I don't think that being a good ticket seller at the peak of your extremely short career is an indication for performance abilities. I don't deny that she is headlining festivals, I'm saying that soon enough, festivals that chose to change strategy and book headliners like Olivia as HEADLINERS will see a decline in ticket sales. Just like happened in Coachella who started booking acts like Blackpink, and will happen soon in Glasto (Maybe? Dunno the brits may be more loyal)

Coachella had one bad year. They are clearly struggling right now with which direction to take. Plus it’s getting ridiculously expensive. But if they started to book bands like RHCP, I don’t think their ticket sales would get better. Their target audience is just not interested in that. Blur were great example this year.
 

Btw, you said you wanted Billie. Is (was) she also inexperienced? I mean she was even younger than Olivia when she headlined Glastonbury or Coachella…

[Ohad]

2 minutes ago, Newjem said:

Coachella had one bad year. They are clearly struggling right now with which direction to take. Plus it’s getting ridiculously expensive. But if they started to book bands like RHCP, I don’t think their ticket sales would get better. Their target audience is just not interested in that. Blur were great example this year.
 

Btw, you said you wanted Billie. Is (was) she also inexperienced? I mean she was even younger than Olivia when she headlined Glastonbury or Coachella…

Yeah, back then, she was way too inexperienced to headline imo. Today I'd love to get her, After 3 inyensive WW tours (vs 1 for Olivia).

[Newjem]

2 minutes ago, Ohad said:

Yeah, back then, she was way too inexperienced to headline imo. Today I'd love to get her, After 3 inyensive WW tours (vs 1 for Olivia).

And was it an absolute disaster or not? I guess it wasn’t if you want her know. So how do you know Olivia won’t be the same?

[VCF]

16 minutes ago, Ohad said:

I dont know why people insist of adopting such attitude. Why are you socmad? Man did I insult you or something?

 

true, I didn't know many of her popular songs. But I don't need more than watching 30 minutes of her set online to confirm my impressions on her as a performer.

 

Yes, she's inexperienced. No, I don't think that being a good ticket seller at the peak of your extremely short career is an indication for performance abilities. I don't deny that she is headlining festivals, I'm saying that soon enough, festivals that chose to change strategy and book headliners like Olivia as HEADLINERS will see a decline in ticket sales. Just like happened in Coachella who started booking acts like Blackpink, and will happen soon in Glasto (Maybe? Dunno the brits may be more loyal)

 

I don’t know what attitude you’re talking about here given I’m asking legit questions but anyway.

You’re acting like experience is only a matter of years but it’s not. She’s experienced way more things at the big level in that 4-year span than some bands that have headlined RW in the past (sometimes early in their career) will ever do in their career. 

And legit question here, what’s your stance on Sam Fender headlining? That’s another act who’s been around for 5 years only and has been announced before his 3rd record.

[Ohad]

5 minutes ago, Newjem said:

And was it an absolute disaster or not? I guess it wasn’t if you want her know. So how do you know Olivia won’t be the same?

 

Not entirely get your point. I think that 3 years ago was too early for Billie to headline, and today it's more fitting. 

 

I'll try to reiterate because it's clear I wasn't clear enough 🙂

I have nothing against Olivia, diverse booking or whatever. Why would I be against her or anyone attending RW in general? Surely I don't think she's terrible and will make all of us miserable, right?

 

As I see it, the HEADLINER spot should be reserved to big PERFORMERS. Experienced performers. Those who arent just about the hits or contemporary success. I want a big SHOW. So I'm disappointed someone inexperienced is HEADLINING. 

I say - give Olivia the chance to wow us in a fitting position. 🙂

[Ohad]

7 minutes ago, VCF said:

I don’t know what attitude you’re talking about here given I’m asking legit questions but anyway.

You’re acting like experience is only a matter of years but it’s not. She’s experienced way more things at the big level in that 4-year span than some bands that have headlined RW in the past (sometimes early in their career) will ever do in their career. 

And legit question here, what’s your stance on Sam Fender headlining? That’s another act who’s been around for 5 years only and has been announced before his 3rd record.

 

The question is legit. Attitude is orthogonal to content in this case. As a part of this conversation I do make an effort to choose my words in a manner that will make you feel respected 🙂

 

If it was up to me, yeah, I'd keep Sam as a sub at most. But really, he started touring 3 years before Olivia did (Olivia is not even touring for 3 years). He did RW once or twice before. I don't find it as out of context as I find Olivia's position.

[Newjem]

10 minutes ago, Ohad said:

 

Not entirely get your point. I think that 3 years ago was too early for Billie to headline, and today it's more fitting. 

 

I'll try to reiterate because it's clear I wasn't clear enough 🙂

I have nothing against Olivia, diverse booking or whatever. Why would I be against her or anyone attending RW in general? Surely I don't think she's terrible and will make all of us miserable, right?

 

As I see it, the HEADLINER spot should be reserved to big PERFORMERS. Experienced performers. Those who arent just about the hits or contemporary success. I want a big SHOW. So I'm disappointed someone inexperienced is HEADLINING. 

I say - give Olivia the chance to wow us in a fitting position. 🙂

And I’m sorry but I don’t get your point. What is the difference between Billie 2 years ago and now? I just don’t see how her shows changed when she gained the experience. Is there actually any example you can give to help me understand? What changed? Singing, energy, band, lights/lasers/pyro?

[Matt86]

👎 I saw Guns & Roses or Metallica in the last 3 years, it was poor. Made me wanna puke.

👍 Foo Fighters and AC/DC on the other hand, although they also are 'old', were way better on stage. Performances talking AND investment.

 

👍About the "youngers", I for instance saw Maneskin and Dua Lipa putting on GREAT shows, while being headliners for the first time in their careers (saying Dua Lipa can't sing is just false and wrong, sorry dude. She's known in the business EXACTLY for being great on stage.)

👎 And then, I also saw young artists completely blewing it up at being headliners, like Justin Bieber, or Avenged Sevenfold.

 

 

My point is :

Age and Experience don't matter. You can be a headliner whether you're 22 or 65, that is not a guarantee of having a good show/ bad show.

 

[Ohad]

1 minute ago, Newjem said:

And I’m sorry but I don’t get your point. What is the difference between Billie 2 years ago and now? I just don’t see how her shows changed when she gained the experience. Is there actually any example you can give to help me understand? What changed? Singing, energy, band, lights/lasers/pyro?

 

Better singing, better presence. Just from watching the videos I can tell she is better than she was when I saw her 5 years ago. Similarly, I remember seeing Rihanna in 2010 and then again in 2013 and it was A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE. It doesn't matter how talented Billie or Olivia or Rihanna are, it's illogical to assume experience makes no difference. ESPECIALLY when we discuss young artists.

 

But if you don't see value in experience then I guess you do get my point, just don't agree with it. 🙂